At least once in our life, we’re all faced with having to write a poem of our own. Some of us succeed on our first try. Others fail at first, but keep trying until they get it right. Some are so discouraged by their failure that they completely give up though. I can’t claim to be a master of words, but over the years I have managed to write a few poems, some good, others flawed. Though I can’t tell you how to write a good one, I can certainly give you a few tips about where to start.

First of all you need emotion. You can’t just write poetry, you need to feel it. You need to feel the ideas flowing through your veins, waiting to be immortalized on paper. Love is a good starting point in most cases, but I’ve found love-induced sorrow to work best, ironically. Once you’ve found the emotion that you need to express most, you need to find the right time to do it. Try having a philosophical monologue about a topic you choose, at different times of the day, so you find out which moment you’re most creative in.

Now that you’re in a proper writing mood, just let everything flow. All you need to do is think of the first verse of the poem, and the rest should come very naturally. Pretend you’re one of the poem’s first-time readers. How would you like it to begin? Then, from that verse on, you need to experiment, in order to see which type of rhyme works best for you. Also, once you finish writing a verse, think of its correspondent rhyme, and figure out how to integrate it into the theme of your poem. Next, you need to find the ideal length of your strophes. Though I’ve noticed quartets work best for me, you need to find your individual style, one that suits you best. Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you don’t like how something turned out, don’t be shy to hit the backspace key a few times. It won’t be the end of the world. Try and try again, and you’ll see, things get easier each time you do.

It would be a good idea to read your creation aloud, to really feel the sweet melody of your work. If something sounds out of place, try modifying the length of a verse to see what rhythm that gives you. Do whatever it takes to make the poem’s intonation sound flawless, even if that involves neglecting basic grammar rules. In this case, some rules are meant to be broken.

In the end, don’t be discouraged if you or someone else doesn’t praise your work. Critics are merely there to tell you that you haven’t reached your full potential yet. Treat each failure as a prelude for success and keep trying till you find your own style, one you can be proud of. After all, that is what it takes to be a successful poet.

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